Avarii- the Golden Child

by Mark A Herring

  “And the steel in this longer sword does not have them?”

  I notice that, too.

  “You can tell how good the steel in a sword is, by the sound it makes.” Seberkyne says, then demonstrates by giving the longer blade a thump with his finger.

  I listen to the sound the sword makes; a fairly high-pitched ring to it, and I nod as I understand what he's telling me.

  Then he thumps my smaller sword in the same fashion, and, goodness! the thing sings! I have used my smaller sword many times, but I never heard that before! My jaw drops in amazement and look at Seberkyne with awe.

  Seberkyne then begins to recite this tale, with his deeply resonating voice, “There was once a great kingdom in the land of Avarii, to the north somewhere from Navarae. They had great knowledge of a great many things. How to fashion swords that was much stronger than any other swords. How to make fire by scraping metal on certain rocks, even items of their clothing was different. This kingdom was called D'menacon, and D'menaconnen steel was highly regarded and sought after among kings. You can always tell a blade that was made by their blade smiths, by these water-like patterns. And the horn used to make the handle, is from an animal we call an ibris.”

  Oh, so the small deer-like creatures are called ibris? Good to know. Then I think of the ruins I found all my stuff in, “D'menacon?” I ask.

  “Yes.” Seberkyne nods, “And the only blade that can break a D'menaconnen blade, is a myth.” He says mysteriously with a mischievous smile.

  I'm about to say something, but Jenna snorts and gets everyone's attention. “The roĉshau.” he says.

  I cock my head to the side and look at him for clarification. “The...”

  “The roĉshau was said to be a blade unequaled by any made of steel, iron, or bronze.” Seberkyne informs, “It is said to be made of a crystal that is, and isn't there. Forged by magic, it glows gold from deep within it, and fades into orange, then red. And nothing, nothing, can withstand it. It's name is derived from ancient Kikkierii, meaning 'Flame Blade'.” he stops for a moment to see my expression, and he is pleased that my eyes are aglow with the idea of this mysterious weapon. “But it is only a myth, a legend.” then he reaches for my quiver of arrows, “And these arrows of yours, and your spear, made of ironwood. Solid, very strong. Ironwood was indigenous only in the kingdom of D'menacon, and no one else knows what they look like. And then your bow, made from the heart of a tree that can bend a great degree without breaking, and last a long time.”

  I take a moment to digest what he's telling me, “What happened to them?”

  “No one knows for sure, but there are many tales that one day the ground just opened up and swallowed the entire city whole. Other tales would say that fire rained down upon them from the sky and destroyed them. Still others would say a plague came upon them and killed them.”

  “D'menacon.” I whisper. “What about their clothes?”

  “Like yours...” Seberkyne answers pointedly. “No one has ever been able to find anything left over from D'menacon, and it isn't on any maps any more.”

  So, Seberkyne recognizes my weapons and my clothing.... was that why he looked at me so strangely when I rescued them that first night? Wait a minute! I reach into my clothes bag and find the coins I had taken from the ruins and hold them up to Seberkyne.

  He looks at the coins in my hand and nods his head. “Yes, we knew about them when you were taken in to Kikkierilon. Those coins are from D'menacon.”

  “What about this coin?” I ask. I hold up what looks to be a silver coin, but looks slightly different from the others.

  “That is not silver.” Seberkyne says to me, “That is called platinum, and it is more valuable than silver.”

  I look at the coins in my hand more closely. Silver. Platinum. Gold. Copper. What does it all mean?

  Does this in any way answer where I came from? Am I from D'menacon? Were there any survivors after all? And.... what?

  Or, was I there when the calamity came upon them, and... fell through a... vortex in time....? Hundreds of years later...? What?!

  Seberkyne sees me working it out in my head.

  “What... does this say... about me?” I ask.

  Seberkyne shakes his head slowly and gives me a small smile, “I don't know yet. All the D'menaconnen people were thought to be extinct. Now? I'm not sure.” he puts a hand on my shoulder, “You, my little friend, are a puzzle yet to be solved...”

  I sigh and look down to ponder what possibilities arose about me appearing where I did, when I did.

  “Are you going to tell him the rest?” Bogamin says quietly to Seberkyne.

  Seberkyne shakes his head slightly, but I catch him doing it.

  I wasn't meant to hear or see any of that exchange between them, but my eyes and ears are as sharp as a panther's...

  I look up and frown at them. “Tell me what?” I ask. I am suddenly reminded of that night when they finally started telling me of their mission, and Bogamin and Seberkyne had shared a knowing look about... something.

  “It's nothing.” Seberkyne dismisses with a wave of his hand and makes ready to lay down in his cloak.

  “What?” I persist, leaning forward to him.

  Seberkyne huffs out a sharp sigh, and glares at Bogamin for a moment, deciding whether he should tell me or not. “I don't think it wise to inform him yet, that is all.” he stalls.

  Bogamin turns to Jenna across the fire from him, “Told you; wizards always keep too many secrets from the rest of us.”

  Wizard?!?

  Seberkyne controls his emotions, though I think he would like to turn Bogamin into something unnatural at this point. He defers to Dakanii.

  Dakanii holds up his hands, “I trust your judgment, he's your student..”

  “Wizards do not tell everyone everything because you are not ready for it!” Seberkyne sternly says to the warriors around us, glaring pointedly at them, “Do you know how the sun stays in the sky? Or how rain comes from certain clouds? Or the plants come from the ground? Huh? Do you?” he continues to stare at them, daring them to stare him down, “You are not meant to know such things. Your minds have not been expanded enough to know such things.

  “Farmers know how to produce crops from the field, and to read the weather when it is time to rain. But you are warriors, you only know how to conduct war, and to protect people— except you, Dakanii.”

  Dakanii dips his head to Seberkyne and sits back.

  I'm sitting there, boring a hole into Seberkyne with my eyes, wanting to know more. This was the angriest I have ever heard the kindly old man say to anyone.

  “What?” I ask again. “If you know... something about me?”

  Seberkyne looks down to his lap, his hands on his lap, then looks to the night sky and the midnight shadow approaching from the east on the rings above us. He clearly does not want to share this, whatever this is with me, yet.

  Then he nods his head to himself, and turns to me, “While you were being healed by the Kikkierii healers, it was discovered that there is a... deep magic... within you.” he lets that sink in for a moment while locking eyes with me.

  Deep magic?

  “What does... that mean?” I ask, puzzled by his answer.

  Seberkyne shakes his head, “We just don't know at this point. I consulted with them for long periods before you awakened in their care, and we are just baffled about it. Who put it there? When? For what purpose? Or... did you always have it?” Seberkyne put it gently, “And we don't know if you have access to it, do you?”

  Aghast, I say, “Uh.... I don't think I...” I shrug.

  “The poison that was used is very quick, and shuts down your system, as you yourself have experienced.” Seberkyne explains, “It was the deep magic that kept you alive until the poison could be counteracted, and helped you in the healing process. Otherwise, if not for the deep magic, we may not have gotten you to Kikkierilon in time.”

  “The... deep magic... kept me alive?” I ask.

&nbs
p; Seberkyne nods his head.

  I frown. Deep magic... within me? Reflexively I look down to my chest and put my hand there, over my claw necklace, imagining a tiny point of golden light; energy radiating from under my heart. Then I look around to everyone else, and see that all eyes are on me once again.

  I don't.... know anything about this...

  Are they looking to me for answers? I was hoping someone would have some answers for me! Instead, there are only more questions! Maybe this magic has something to do with me being here. Ugh! This is no help!

  I sigh and swallow hard, trying to understand the importance of it all.

  Seberkyne looks to everyone else, especially to Bogamin, “This is why it was not time to tell him yet.” he says between clinched teeth, “You need to trust me when it comes to such things as this, and my judgment. Understood?”

  The others in the group sullenly nod their heads in agreement.

  Sharae's face flashes before my eyes, and I see her smiling at me... if they knew about this deep magic in me... is that why she was smiling so much at me? What was it that Seberkyne said to describe me to those children in that last village we visited in stories? A golden child? And what about Midnight? Is that why he... took care of me? He could sense it?

  I get the feeling that I'm not going to get much sleep tonight....

  Chapter Twenty Five

  It takes us a few days to navigate around K'mere, and thread the needle between K'mere and Nong territory. The fighting between K'mere and Yassan must be over from that battle we came across, but there is no telling what the outcome of it was, and the repercussions afterward. Who won? Were there any victors? Or were both armies wiped out? To me, the two armies looked evenly matched, but what do I know about such things?

  One evening at camp Dakanii was looking at his map again, and was teaching me more about the map, what all the different markings mean (although I would need a lot more teaching to learn their writing). Looking at the map, I see the western side to K'mere shaded and marked, demarking where the Nong territory is... well, thereabouts. There is no actual boundary for the Nong, as they are always trying to expand their territory into everyone else.

  On this part of our trek, we are having to be extra, extra careful to watch out for any potential enemies. Out in the grand plains, it is not as easy to hide out in the open, but we don't know this land as well as those who live here. In our camps in the plains, someone is always taking a rotation to keep watch while the rest sleep. Secretly, I hope I get chosen to stand watch at night as I'm not really getting as much sleep as I should, but everyone else always volunteers for a shift. I did volunteer once to stand watch, but no one liked that idea. Not because they don't trust a child to watch over them, but because they are watching over me, for me to get the rest I should. I think I have five father figures around me, who are all very protective of me.

  Finally we start heading south again, making sure we don't have K'mere in visual range, because if we can see the city, then the guards on the walls can see us from their elevated position. We also worry that there could be sentries on horseback looking for any armies making flanking maneuvers... like we are doing, to attack them from behind.

  Everyone is on high alert now, looking for disaster from the east and west, and I'm starting to wonder if anyone else is actually getting any sleep also at night. We're all getting stressed out as we seem to expect to be ambushed over the next low hill, and Bogamin is starting to lament about why did the Boreth have to take the nayfursheth? He starts cursing his ancestors for being prideful idiots for having not protected it better to keep this from happening.

  “Why do we need to be out here, anyway?” Bogamin is saying, “Our strength in numbers has been our strength anyway since it was taken from us. Do we really need it? Or are we just being prideful again because we just have to have it?”

  “We are here because King Boab has commanded us to retrieve it.” Dakanii casually calls back over his shoulder.

  At the mention of their king, Bogamin quiets quickly and bites his tongue.

  Jenna, bringing up the rear of our group, I can hear snickering at his comrade.

  Yes, do not get caught speaking ill of your king, and his wisdom, even if you are one of his most trusted warriors....

  With my reins in my left hand, I keep my right hand close to the sword that was given to me, to draw it at the first sign of danger. I guess I'm getting edgy too, as I see the effects the stress is having on everyone else. I almost think that I wish if something was going to happen, happen already so we can get this over with! Almost, that is.

  We crest over a rise, only to see a line of people, Nong warriors, walking in a line to the east, towards K'mere. Heavens! What are some of them riding?! Not horses. No, these things are taller than horses, and at first glance, they look like gigantic bats on their four legs, with Nong warriors perched upon their shoulders.

  We immediately stop in our tracks, but we're already spotted, as a number of the ghastly things are already charging full bore toward us!

  “Land-striders!” Dakanii calls out, then whips his horse about in a full gallop.

  We follow him, charging our mounts after him, and I notice we're heading east now, too, as the line from the west is very long. We don't want to go that way as it leads directly into Nong territory, and I guess we're trying to race east to get ahead of this column?

  Dakanii proves to be right about which direction to go, as we soon see the leading edge of the column of Nong warriors, and we dash by them. However, the creatures the Nong are riding, called land-striders, are gaining on us at a rapid pace. I thought our horses are fast, but these things are ridiculous!

  As I have already stated, they look like enormous bats, but with no wings on their forelegs, and their forelegs are very long indeed, and with ground eating strides are perfect for a fast charge over the grand plains area. I happen to notice that the land-striders don't gallop like horses do, instead, they use their forelegs together, as a person would using crutches, and swing their bodies with their hind legs under them. That's why the riders are mounted on the creatures' shoulders instead of on the backs like we do on our horses. Hmm...

  I look back, and see that more of the land-striders with their riders have taken up pursuit of us after we have passed the column.

  What are we going to do? It is obvious we can't outrun them.

  I lash my steed even faster, and with my lighter weight, pull out in front of Dakanii towards the south.

  They are steadily gaining on us, and their riders, the Nong warriors, seem to be leering with glee at the prospect of catching us, which, looks like might be happening. It would not have mattered which direction we started running for our lives, the Nong would catch us regardless. Might as well keep on to the south, just in case.... something happens... and we escape!

  Bogamin, Jenna, Seberkyne, Anjax, and even Dakanii are all riding in close formation behind me as their mounts are charging along, with the horses' own fear of the beasts keeping their drive going.

  How are we going to get out of this?! I look behind me again and notice that the land-striders have caught up with us, and are passing up the other men... the lead land-strider and its rider is coming for me! Cut off any avenue of escape? Go for the one in the lead?

  Oh, why did I urge my mount faster than Dakanii's?!?

  I hear the pounding of the land-strider's feet over the sound of my horse's hooves, considering that with its longer legs, doesn't take as many steps to go even faster! I look to my right and see the thing pulling up next to me. I look above me and see the warrior perched on its shoulders reaching down with his huge hand to pick me up off my horse—

  I glance at my long sword, bouncing along hanging on my saddle, and I see the long, thin legs of the land-strider...

  Not today!!!

  I draw my long sword and swing it at the exposed foreleg of the land-strider, and slicing its leg, make it crash to the ground with a tremendous thud!

&nbs
p; I look behind me, and Dakanii's horse has to jump over the fallen land-strider and its rider, and the men cheer my idea. Following suit, they each draw their own weapons and do the same with their own pursuers, causing the other land-striders to fall also.

  Well, that worked! But only for a moment. As we continue on our blistering pace over the grand plains (and we are going much faster than we ever could have on the road in the forests, by the way), we notice that our pursuers have backed off to check on their comrades, then come after us once more, with even more hatred aimed at us, if that's possible.

  And as before, they gain on us rapidly. Only, this time, they don't approach directly beside us, within the reach of our weapons. No, this time they thunder ahead of us, then come to a full stop and put their broadsides to us, to form a wall.

  However, I am already inspired from my previous ingenuity, and the land-striders' bodies are fairly high up with plenty of space between their forelegs and hind legs; we can dodge under them and not even slow down!

  Keeping up my full charge, I drive right under the land-strider blocking my path, and hold my drawn sword up above me, slicing into its belly as I pass underneath, disemboweling it.

  The Nong warrior roars with rage as his mount collapses under him, and the men follow my example and cripple the ones trying to block them in, too.

  I look behind me again; we all make it through, and it looks like the Nong are not going to continue pursuing us. Maybe that will keep them at bay, for now.

  We will have to stop soon to rest our horses, but we do slow down a little bit, Dakanii resumes the lead, and starts a zig-zagging path across the plains to throw off any pursuers.

  After a few hours, with no signs of any other Nong warriors, we decide to make camp late into the evening. We certainly do not start a fire tonight, and just use the light of the rings to aid us while we set up a small camp. We don't even bother taking the saddles off our horses, afraid that if we are found again, we must get away at all costs.

  I feel sorry for my horse, Blondie, for not taking the saddle off, but I whisper to him while I pet him. I give him an apple I have in my bag, and thank him for his own speed, stamina, and bravery at not shying away from the brutes when they tried to cut us off. He rears his head in thanks for the apple.